Hybrid News

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

Over at the RenCen yesterday, AutoblogGreen sat down with Britta Gross, GM’s manager of Hydrogen and Electrical Infrastructure Development and Strategic Commercialization, and Mark Duvall, program manager at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), to talk about how the Volt - actually, how millions of Volts and other plug-in vehicles - could change the way electricity is thought of in the U.S., and what the automaker and utilities are doing today to get ready for the day when it’s normal to plug in your car.

Gross said that GM is working with dozens of utilities to figure out how to best sell the public on plugging in a car. AutoblogGreen readers might be anxiously counting down the days until their garage becomes a fueling center, but there are a lot of people who just don′t get what plugging a car in might mean, and we could all use a bit more information, no? The major automakers have a long way to go before everyone knows what PHEVs are and how to best use them. Duvall said that it’s not just the batteries in the Volt, but also what might happen to li-ion automotive batteries after they′re used in cars that presents a real opportunity for consumers and utilities for energy storage from wind, solar or just nighttime power. It was an interesting talk, and you can listen in here (21 min):

For more from Duvall, click here.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily

Ahh, the blogger round table. At GM’s Centennial celebration yesterday, GM chairman sat down with a group of bloggers to talk about - what else? - the Volt. Lutz took questions about the car and gave a upbeat assessment of where the overall program is now; he didn’t even knock wood when he said that the battery testing has not given them any problems - guess he’s not superstitious. One thing that Lutz said would help GM sell more Volts would be government incentives, specifically $7,500 incentive for each person who buys one. By the looks of it, the he won’t quite get that amount.

Over the next few years, here’s what will happen with the Volt program: There will be 50 or so Volt powertrains in Chevy Cruze bodies cruising the streets gathering data in the next few months. They are currently building three a week. Next year, about 100 Volts that look like the Volt will be out and about and in 2010 there will be a “pretty huge fleet″ testing. Basically, Lutz said, everything’s on track for the late-2010 production date.

We also hear how those leaked photos hit the web - yup, GM was embarrassed.

Have a listen to all this a lot more (31 min):

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

Now that you’ve had time to digest the look of the production Chevrolet Volt in a somewhat more flattering environment, it’s time to have your say. Obviously it changed a lot, but that was a necessity to get this first one out the door and meet the performance targets. The wheels shrunk, the greenhouse grew, and the transparent shoulders are now opaque. But this is now a real and buildable car. You’ve all been having your say in the comments, now let’s get some numbers from a thoroughly unscientific, self-selecting poll. Did Bob Boniface and his team break it or fix it?

View Poll

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

The big news of the day is obviously the unveiling of the production Chevy Volt. I mean, this is the car that you should be able to buy in two short long years and a few months. We’ve been following the development of this car for a long time now (since January 2007, for goodness sake).

But what if we were political pundits instead of bloggers with a thing for cleaner cars? Considering the amount of BS those pundits have spewed here in the U.S. during this seemingly endless presidential race, I can’t help but think of how today’s Volt reveal could have been, if people like Hannity and Colmes were here with Limbaugh and Olberman. My nightmare imagination runs wild after the jump.

Continue reading If we were political pundits covering the production Chevy Volt reveal…

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Flex-Fuel, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

A week after some admittedly bad photos of the production Chevrolet Volt were accidently released on the GM media website, the car itself was officially unveiled this morning as part of GM’s centennial celebration in Detroit. Fortunately, the vehicle we saw this morning looked vastly better than the car in the photos we saw last week. Unlike the unapproved shots that made the car look tall, wide and bloated, what we saw today was a far sleeker machine. Aside from some details such as the mirrors, the car actually looks much like the car we saw in the spy photos from the Transformers 2 film shoot.

That means it looks less like a Prius than we thought based on the leaked shots. As we′ve known for months, the production car had to change in order to optimize the aerodynamics. This had to be done to limit parasitic losses and maximize the car’s ability to recapture kinetic energy. The back end is the most obvious carryover from the concept while the front gets the smoother, more rounded look we′ve been seeing in teaser shots for months. There’s more after the jump.

Continue reading Officially Official: 2011 Chevrolet Volt finally revealed!

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: GM

Tuesday is the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of General Motors by Billy Durant. In spite of the financial crisis swirling around all three of the Detroit-based automakers, GM intends to take that day to celebrate. Part of that celebration includes the official unveiling of the production design of the Chevy Volt and supposedly some other surprises. Sebastian and I will be on hand live in Detroit on Tuesday, but you can follow the events in a live webcast at GMNext.com. Several more on-line chats with GM executives will be taking place throughout the day including Jon Lauckner and Bob Lutz. Get a preview of what’s coming in the video after the jump and stay tuned here on Tuesday morning as we bring you live photos of the Volt and more.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading VIDEO: General Motors centennial celebration to be broadcast on GMNext

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

Few companies manage to stay in business for 100 years, but for the second time this decade (Ford reached the milestone in 2003) an American based automaker has hit that threshold. Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of General Motors with a celebration at its world headquarters in Detroit. Automobile Magazine’s Don Sherman takes a look at GM and it’s chances for future success with electrified vehicles in the New York Times. With a price tag that has crept upward by 30 percent from the original target, and styling that departs significantly from the highly regarded 2007 concept, the chances for success of the Volt are being increasingly questioned. The need for aerodynamic efficiency has left many feeling that the sporty vision we saw last year has morphed into another Prius clone. Sherman quotes several industry observers who doubt that lithium batteries will be able to meet the vehicle lifespan requirements that are needed and they may well turn out to be right. At this point it’s simply too early to tell. GM is conducting accelerated durability testing, but until they have years of use in the real world, we simply won’t know if the models are accurate enough. Meanwhile stick with us on Tuesday morning when we bring you live coverage of the official reveal of the Volt production design from Detroit.

Related:

• BREAKING: Is this the production Chevy Volt in Transformers 2?
• EPA vs the Chevy Volt: Hybrid or electric car? 48mpg or 100mpg?
• Production Chevy Volt photos leak out!

[Source: New York Times]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet

GM Europe president Carl-Peter Forster said again this week that the company would launch E-Flex-based extended range EVs on the European market in 2011, about a year behind the Volt launch in North America. In his remarks, Forster referred to both petrol- and diesel-powered ER-EVs, although the last time we checked with GM they said they had no plans yet to produce diesel-powered E-Flex vehicles. The Opel/Saturn Flextreme concept that the company displayed at the 2007 Frankfurt motor show used a diesel engine in place of the gas/E85 engine from the Volt. GM Europe plans to offer both Chevrolet and Opel branded E-Flex cars. Forster also told reporters that GM wil start building actual prototype Volts with production intent hardware this month and hopes to have 50 cars completed by the end of the year.

[Source: Reuters]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

The Chevrolet Volt raises a lot of questions. From its public unveiling in January 2007 people wondered, is it a hybrid or an electric car? Right from day 1 in December 2006 before the auto show, GM officials have called it a range extended electric car. They use the electric car terminology because, unlike what we think of as hybrids today, only an electric motor drives the Volt. The engine, a normally aspirated 1.4L (not turbocharged as Motor Trend indicates) just drives a generator (not a two mode hybrid unit as MT says) instead of the wheels. However, the presence of the range extender causes the EPA to consider it a hybrid and they expect it to have almost a full charge at the end of the test cycle. The design intent is that the battery would be run down after having run more than its 40 mile electric range during the test. As designed, the engine would only run 15 percent of the time during the current EPA cycle and would yield over 100 mpg. But, using the EPA’s methodology and having the engine keep the battery near full charge - which completely defeats the purpose of a plug-in vehicle with a 40 mile electric range - the Volt would only get about 48 mpg. While not a bad number, it’s no where near reflective of what the Volt could achieve in the real world for most drivers. Clearly the EPA needs to work with manufacturers to change the testing methodology and come up with something that more closely approximates real world conditions for plug-in vehicles. Insisting on something else would force automakers to calibrate plug-ins to meet those requirements at the expense of real world efficiency, helping no one.

[Source: Motor Trend]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM, Green Daily

Now that we′ve seen at least a blurry vision of the Chevy Volt’s exterior and a Photoshopped front end (above), how about hearing a bit more about the inside, specifically the batteries? According to GM’s master of ceremonies vice chairman, Bob Lutz, the lithium ion battery packs that are powering the Volt mules around GM’s test tracks are “performing flawlessly.”

We heard already that GM has picked a battery supplier, and this has got to be good news for either A123 systems or LG Chem/Compact Power Inc. Lutz continued: “It’s almost scary we are not seeing any problems with the batteries.”

There is one big potential flaw, though: price. Durability and longevity predictions are showing that the batteries will work as hoped, but in their cost projections, GM is expecting each and every Volt will need a new battery pack while it is under warrenty. Thanks to Dave T.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chevrolet, GM

At a preview of GM’s 2009 model year lineup yesterday in Jolliet IL, Bob Lutz revealed that the production supplier for the Chevy Volt battery has been selected. Unfortunately, the GM Vice Chairman would not say which of the development suppliers had been selected. Two partnerships have been supplying prototype batteries to GM for the E-Flex program since late in 2007. LG Chem and its U.S. subsidiary Compact Power Inc have long been considered to be the leaders in the race to supply the most critical component of the Volt.

Continental and A123 have also been providing batteries but they ran behind CPI in initial pack deliveries. Lutz reiterated that a test fleet of production-intent Volts would be on the road being field tested by late 2009 ahead of a November 2010 retail launch.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

Click to enlarge

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/autos/Has_the_production_Chevy_Volt_been_spotted_in_Transformers_2′; Is the vehicle pictured above the production Chevy Volt? It sure looks like it. It has the right greenhouse profile and judging from the head and tail-lights it looks an awful lot like the teaser shots that GM has been releasing lately. Perhaps the most telling detail though is the visible at the base of the A-pillar right in front of the mirror. The letters on that badge sure appear to spell out VOLT!. The car in this photo was shot during filming of Transformers 2 somewhere in Long Beach. So far calls to our contacts at GM are going unanswered but let you know as soon as we hear something. Thanks to Tony for the tip!

[Source: Transformers Live Action Blog]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

Veteran interviewer Charlie Rose has done a two-part look at General Motors in the wake of the company’s recent losses and its pending centennial celebration. In the first part, Rose sits down with Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner to discuss all manner of issues surrounding the ailing automaker, including the Volt. Aside from reiterating that the engineering teams are making excellent progress on the Volt and are on track to meet the late 2010 Job 1 date, Wagoner was asked about price. He replied that they haven’t worked out final pricing yet but expects the initial cars to come out in the mid to upper 30s. That’s clearly more than they would have liked but it is the reality of battery costs. Wagoner said the company hopes that the government will implement tax incentives that make the end price more palatable to consumers. On the subject of incentives he said that GM doesn’t expect the government to pay for the development of vehicles like the Volt, but would like to see the government encourage the demand side to help build volume. That would be a combination of incentives to buy, and also allowing fuel prices not to drop too much. The company is already realigning its production capacity to the reality of high gas prices and they would hate to see a reversal in demand for trucks at this point. You can check out the video after the jump. A second part, featuring an interview with Bob Lutz, hasn’t been posted online yet.

[Source: Charlie Rose]

Continue reading VIDEO: Charlie Rose talks to Wagoner, Volt price in the mid to upper 30s

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in

Just last week we found out that lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems had filed the first batch of paperwork required for it to make an initial public stock sale. Having tried to read through a few of these kinds of filings in the past, we took a pass this time around. Fortunately our friends at GreenTechMedia waded into these waters and noticed some interesting items. Since companies have to disclose all sorts of information about risks and benefits they face when going public, A123 discussed sales. Until now, A123′s biggest customer has been Black and Decker, although A123 also has two separate development contracts with General Motors for the Saturn VUE PHEV and something called the Volt. The S-1 filling only mentions reduced revenue from its most significant customer without explaining which of the two companies that is. This could mean a number of things. It could mean that A123 is on the losing end of one or both of the GM production contracts which would definitely be a bad thing for A123. The other and perhaps more likely possibility is Black and Decker. Black and Decker uses A123 batteries in its premium DeWalt line of power-tools. DeWalt tools are more commonly used by contractors and other professionals while general consumers typically opt for the cheaper Black and Decker brand. The same collapse of the housing market that has killed sales of full-size pickup trucks over the past year could be having an impact here. If new homes aren’t being built, contractors don’t need new tools to put in the new trucks they aren’t buying either. A123 can’t really say anything specific right now because of the legally mandated quiet period, but GM should be making an announcement in the next few months about the Volt battery supplier. Thanks to Rick for the tip!

[Source: GreenTechMedia]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, GM

Bob Boniface the director of the E-Flex design studio at GM is in Traverse City MI this week for the Management Briefing Seminars. We already saw the new teaser shots of the Volt released yesterday and Green Fuels Forecast had a chance to speak with Boniface following his presentation. Boniface elaborated on some of the design changes that have brought the Volt to where it will be for production. The slim packaging of the battery pack down the center tunnel and the re-shaping of the body have not only reduced the drag but also increased interior volume. As we’ve heard before, the drag reduction was key to helping achieve the 40 mile electric range target for the Volt. GM has also posted a new wind tunnel video that gives a further hint about the overall shape of the Volt that you can check out after the jump.

[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]

Continue reading Bob Boniface discusses the changes to the production Volt

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid